Sancho

Hi,

I'm setting off soon on a quick three-week trip by public transport in Spain, and I wonder if anyone has any thoughts. Anything I might have missed on the net, for instance, or anywhere where they particularly dislike Brits, or any good cheap eating holes ? (Hotels already sorted out.)

The main reason will be to give a sort of physicality to some places that since childhood have appealed to my imagination. The route will be more or less as follows:

Bilbao - Santander - Santillana - Oviedo - Leon - Zamora - Toro - Tordesillas - Salamanca - Plasencia - Caceres - Zafra - Jerez (de los Caballeros) - Llerena - Trujillo - Talavera - Toledo - Siguenza - Zaragoza - Lleida - Girona - Collioure (in France).

I'd have asked on a Spanish forum, but my Spanish is nearly zero.

steviedeluxe

Hi - sounds like a fantastic itinerary.
One thing you may need to do is check on local fiesta events - normally at this time of year you shouldn't find it too difficult to find accommodation, but if you hit a town when they have their big fiesta you may find it hard to find a room, and prices will soar. [edit - just seen you've already sorted accommodation so ignore this]
A lot of those places are inland or in the north, where tbh they are not really exposed to too many Brits. They may assume you are either an English teacher, or perhaps a rich City type. But most people will have the same feelings as they would if a Norwegian, Russian or German was staying in their city.
In larger cities you'd normally need to be careful of pickpockets, but with the possible exceptions of Bilbao, Zaragoza and Salamanca, you should be ok, just don't forget to remain aware.
Bear in mind that a lot of museums, historical buildings will close on a Monday.
Personally I think you're doing too much in one trip - I'd sooner stay 2 or 3 days in one place, but that's obviously down to individual choice.
Have a great time!

agoreira

Good luck, looks like fun. I see you have about 22 different places there in 21 days, that'll be an American style see Europe in a week type trip! Ok, everyone back on the bus. Probably need a couple of months to do all those places justice. They love Brits in Oviedo!

Casa Santo Estevo

I agree looks a great trip....but.......One night stands do not work. You will never get to know your loved one .
Slowdown and see more.

stuboy

I think it looks amazing but possibly a bit too ambitious relying on public transport. With a car you would have half a chance. A few of those places are worthy of more time and a few I would simply drive through.

I would knock out a few of the smaller places and include Vittoria. I think Toledo and Caceres are a bit too far south for the time you have.

BEVS

Am loving this you motely lot.

Worthless karma all round.

Mitzyboy

Try and add in Segovia if you can, for the Roman Aqueduct

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Mitzyboy

Oh, and a taste of what awaits you in Toledo. You'll never see these places properly in a day [IMG][/IMG]

Horlics

Looks like a great itinerary to me. No Spanish though in some of those places! Don't forget your phrasebook.

missile

You will struggle to use public transport with zero Spanish.

Sancho

Thanks very much everyone.

I agree that it looks rather a lot of ground to cover in three weeks, but I only mean to go through some places, stopping for a few hours, or to visit them as a side-trip from somewhere else where I'm based for two or three days. For example in the south of Extremadura I'll be staying in Zafra, where there are a few buses and one train to Llerena in the morning and back in the evening. There are no buses or trains to Jerez that I can find, but the hotel say they'll see what can be arranged.

Toro (for the Virgin of the Fly) can be visited from Zamora. There are plenty of buses and it only takes half an hour. And I can stop for a couple of hours in Tordesillas (for Joan the Mad's clavichord) on the way to Salamanca. So the bus company site says anyway, which suggests I'm not the first one to want to do that.

In Santander the only thing I want to see is the raqueros monument, which is conveniently near to the FEVE station. And in Bilbao I'm only interested in the Braques in the Museum of Fine Art and the outside of the Guggenheim with the "Puppy" and "Maman" sculptures. Also a plate of marmitako.

I've heard Segovia is absolutely wonderful, but I'm afraid there won't be time this time, anyway time to do it justice. Maybe it can be included in one of my plans for future years: Vittoria-Madrid-Castile/La Mancha, and Lisbon-Elvas-Badajoz.

(I'm seeing three of Wellington's battlefields this time; Vittoria and Badajoz will be another two.)

I've cut out Yuste and Guadeloupe, because they seem forbiddingly difficult to get to by public transport, but I think the others are doable. All the hotels are cancellable at no fee, so plans can be adjusted.

Language shouldn't be a major problem. I speak fairly fluent French and Italian and my Latin's OK. Last time I was in Spain I didn't find it all that hard. Still, I do mean to take a phrasebook.

Thanks again for everything. Any other thoughts, please post them

P.S. One of the reasons why I'm going now rather than earlier is that I didn't want to get mixed up in Holy Week, esp. in Zamora and Salamanca.

P.P.S. I have an idea that Toledo gets packed with tourists, but I'll just be there for two nights, to see where the Posada de la Sangre was, where Cervantes stayed and fell in love with the kitchenmaid.

stuboy

To be fair it sounds like you know exactly what you're doing and where you're going and why.

Good luck and enjoy this beautiful country.

If you get stuck any time you can always come on here and ask for advice.

chopera

If you are planning to return some time then I would cut out the places that can be done as day trips from Madrid and instead base yourself in Madrid and do them as day trips.

Places like Segovia, Toledo, Avila, El Escorial, Alcala (where there is a mock-up of Cervantes's house), can be done as day trips along with many other interesting towns and villages. At a stretch you could do Salamanca as well (about 3 hours by train). To get to Yuste you'd need to change bus at Navalmoral - the trip from Madrid is maybe 4 hours by bus. You could also stay at Jarandilla and walk to Yuste following the ruta del emperador.

Merida is worth a visit if you like roman ruins. There's not much at Talavera from what I recall.

Retired in Euskadi

"And in Bilbao I'm only interested in the Braques in the Museum of Fine Art and the outside of the Guggenheim with the "Puppy" and "Maman" sculptures. Also a plate of marmitako"

Don't forget museums shut on Mondays. The museum of fine art opens from 10.00. Situated near the tall Iberdrola building. Opposite there's a good bar, called "Sandwi Bar" that does excellent pintxos….even their tortilla is good. They probably do lunches, for your marmitako, to cater for the nearby trade of office workers from the tall Iberdrola office building next door.
There's an exhibition of Yoko Ono stuff on in the Guggenheim at present, if you like her sort of stuff. Personally the Guggenheim is better seen from the outside!!

stuboy

Thankyou fro my soggy chips whatever that means.